How to flex your new superpower

Virtual Assistant – The Definitive Guide

What is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?

A virtual assistant is a skilled individual who provides business, technical, administrative, or personal help over the phone or internet. The term is derived from the fact that their tasks are accomplished remotely or ‘virtually.’

Virtual Assistants in a Nutshell

Virtual assistants (or virtual EA’s) are common for busy professionals to hire

Prices can range from around $5/hr to up $100/hr, with quality and commitment generally increasing as the price increase

Many virtual assistants work from remote international locations (e.g. the Philippines or India)

You can use your virtual assistant for various tasks and chores that you need to do and hire one depending on your specific need. A virtual assistant can do various jobs ranging from business support, technical assistance and even personal assistance.

Magic is a personal assistant on demand where you can ask for services through simple texting. It can provide services ranging from calendar and schedule management to booking flights, ordering food, and hiring cleaning services for your home. Magic will respond to your text anytime of the day, seven days a week so you can get the service that you need fast.

Magic trains and manages the assistants for you and bills by the minute, only when you need it, with no minimum or subscription fee to use the service.

Formerly Elance and Odesk, Upwork is a freelance platform where employers can hire freelancers by the hour or by project. Upwork currently one of the largest online freelance workplaces but you must do all the hiring and managing yourself.

The First Virtual Assistant

Since the 1800s, secretaries had to report to their employers on a daily basis. It was only in 1997 when Anastacia Brice formed the AssistU organization when personal assistant services started to be done virtually through the use of the internet.

Virtual personal assistants carry out their tasks and accomplish them without the need to physically report to their employers. Nowadays, most of the communication between an employer and his personal assistant are done online or through calls and texts.

Virtual Assistant Contract Types

The type of virtual assistant that you should hire depends on your needs. The amount of time want him or her to work, the nature of the tasks you need accomplished, and your financials are all important considerations. Keep these in mind as you review the following types of virtual assistants.

Full Time

Report daily to their employers

Work on a set time schedule

Salary paid is equivalent to a full-time employee

Beneficial for employers who need assistance daily

Part-Time

Report to their employers on specific days in a week

Work on a set time schedule

Salary paid is equivalent to a part-time employee

Beneficial for employers who need assistance only on certain days

Hourly

Often project based

Payment is based on the amount of hours spent working on a project

Beneficial for individuals who only need a specific project or task accomplished

On-Demand

Often task based (single or multiple)

Services are called depending on the need

Payment is based on the time spent to accomplish a task

Beneficial for all types of individuals

What is an On-Demand Virtual Assistant Service?

For individuals who need help with their tasks and need them to be accomplished immediately, an on-demand virtual assistant service is the best choice. This is the best option for those who need assistance with their errands from time to time but do not want to hire a full-time, part-time, or hourly virtual assistant.

One can avail of this type of service through an application, online, or text. Examples of tasks that you can ask from your on-demand personal virtual assistant are:

Schedule your appointments with your doctor or hair dresser

Plan out a birthday event for your special someone

Book you any form of transportation and be picked up wherever you are

Check your emails and tell you any urgent messages

Place an order and have it delivered anywhere

For example, Magic!, which is an on demand VA service, was able to order cupcakes for an individual and have them delivered to the Washington Post anonymously to show his gratitude:

On-Demand virtual assistant services are getting more and more recognition because of the fast and reliable way they can accomplish tasks for people. Anyone can avail of this type of VA service and expect small and big tasks to be carried out for them.

What Can You do with Your Virtual Assistant?

With the increase in the demand of virtual assistant services, varying types of personal assistance are used all over the world. Unlike before when formal employers are the ones who hire secretaries or personal assistants, nowadays anyone can be a boss and have a personal assistant.

More and more services can be asked from a virtual assistant, examples of which are:

General or Administrative

Keep track and maintain your schedules and calendar

Schedule you appointments and meetings

Book your flights and hotel reservations

Technical

E-mail, website, and blog site creation

Troubleshooting of technical errors on your website

Online account maintenance and updating

Social Media

Setting up of social media accounts

Finding images for your social media posts

Creating the content of your social media accounts

Product or Program Launch

Extensive Researching for your product

Researching on competitor products

Strategizing for product launch

Graphic Design

Creating posters, images, and brochures

Creating brand logos

Creating infographics

Content Writing

Writing content for blogs, researches, etc.

Article spinning

Copywriting and editing

Audio and Video

Editing of existing audio and video files

Intro and outro creation

Transcribing of audio and video files

Location Specific Assistance

Our conveniently connected, modern world allows even remote personal assistants to handle many location specific tasks.

Consequently, the following article provide tips on what you can ask of your virtual assistant based on specific locations:

What You Should NOT Ask Your Virtual Assistant to Do

With the multitude of things that a virtual assistant can do, some employers and clients can go overboard by expecting their virtual assistants to be able to do everything for them.

Expect him to come to your office or home

Virtual assistants provide their services and promise to accomplish the tasks you ask from them virtually. This means that they are not regular employees who can be asked to report to your office whenever you want or need them.

Do something illegal

You know the law where you live in, so you also know what is legal or illegal. Anything that crosses the boundaries of legality like asking your virtual assistant to purchase an illegal product and have it delivered to you or take down your competitor’s business is something you should never ask your virtual assistant.

Do the impossible

Your virtual assistant has limitations too, just like you do. Asking him to do impossible things like ‘setting up a date with Kylie Jenner’ or ‘plan a trip to the Moon’ are impossible for anyone, as well as your virtual assistant.

Do something for free

If you are looking for a virtual assistant to do an errand, chore, or task, then you should know that you will need to pay him for the services he has provided. You should never ask your virtual assistant to do work for you and expect it to be free of charge.

Recommendation

In conclusion, if you want to do the work of screening, hiring, and managing a full-time, dedicated virtual assistant, we recommend Upwork.

However, If you’d like access to a team of virtual assistants, available 24/7, without dealing with hiring, training, and managing, we recommend Magic.